Soul Hunter
by Zanka no Tachi 31
Summary: Ichigo's parents and sisters were killed by a kishin and he now lives alone. But one day he decides to go out from his loneliness and he finds himself at death weapon meister academy
1. Chapter 1

_Shlik_. "Well, there goes another" a boy with bright orange hair said to himself after slaying a small monster like creature that barely resembled a human, since there was no one else around to talk to in the lonely place he called home. _"I should really find out what those things are they keep leaving behind all these red floaty thingies, and they really creep me out with their whispering voices and what not"_

The young teen called Ichigo had lived the main part of his life in the mountains nearby a rather large city that was filled with noises and from what he could tell were machines from all the new technology that was around these days. He himself had never bothered to leave his place in the mountain but the temptation that drew him to explore the outer world was growing greater with each passing day and he had finally given into his desires and made the decision that he would indeed go to visit this outside world even if it was just to learn more about it and not make a new place for himself in the world. The world as he knew it so far was little, all he knew about the outside world came from memories of when he was younger, a little boy that struggled to reach for the stars and protect those he loved. That little boy hadn't been strong enough to protect his family when he was little and he just wished he could go back and try all over again repeating the same process no matter how many times it took, but alas he could not, his whole family was gone after that monster that had once been human slaughtered his parents and sisters right before his eyes. He was helpless and all he could do was run and run hopelessly wondering whether or not he could out run the thing trailing behind him, the memory pained him.

* * *

FLASH BACK

Ichigo ran ahead of his parents and giggled, still a little child that laughed at the smallest of things oblivious to the rest of the world around him and extremely happy with how he lived and whom he lived with. His parents to the eyes of the young boy were amazing people, able to overpower most people with power beyond which Ichigo could even describe, without even a scratch, there was never a time that those monsters could harm him or his little sisters.

Karin and Yuzu, they were simply bundles of joy that ended up always almost ending up on the wrong side of things, as they would often try to follow their big brother wherever he went.

Ichigo's parents tried to keep up with him as he ran ahead through the streets towards home not heeding the signals his parents sent out as they warned him not to wander off to far. As he rounded the next corner Ichigo heard a scream that stopped him in his tracks as he looked back to see a hideous form emerge from around another corner nearby that attempted to attack the people near it by swiping out with large claws towards the unfortunate victims of it's assault. Many people managed to miss it's attacks but were unfortunate enough to get caught within it's razor sharp claws and were rendered in two blood splattering everywhere. Ichigo's eyes widened and tears began to form as he saw the people in front of him brutally murdered by the hideous beast that stood before him.

The people that died then seemed to dissipate and be replaced by small floating blue orbs. Ichigo was to young to understand what these things were exactly but he could tell that they all had some connection to the people that were once in their places and that they were of somewhat the essence of the people that were once alive. Having seen this Ichigo then watched horrified as the beast reached out to grab a blue orb that hung in the air before it slowly bringing it up to it's mouth to consume the product of the dead human.

"Ichigo" someone called out in a panicked voice.

Ichigo turned to see his parents their with a look of fear and relief on their faces as they realised that their son was fine but the beast before them was far too much for them to handle as they held out their hands to Ichigo and begged him to run to them before the beast finished it's current meal and moved onto searching for more prey. Slowly Ichigo began to inch over towards his parents who did the same with him, the young twin girls in their arms grasping onto their parents clothing burying their faces into parent's chests scared of what lay before them.

The beast had now finished it's meal and was raising it's face slowly to face Ichigo, it's red eyes piercing into his as Ichigo suddenly found himself bound by fear to the very spot he was standing. The monster charged at him rearing a scythe like claw back ready to pierce his heart when it got close. Finally the beast was right in front of him and threw its appendage forwards…it missed Ichigo, but it did hit something and that something was Ichigo's gurgling parents as they had dropped both Yuzu and Karin to leap forward and save their son from death.

Blood poured from their mouths as they gripped onto what life they had left remained in them. The only coherent speech that managed to leave their mouths before they finally succumbed to death was 'run', but Ichigo could not as he stopped breathing the moment he saw them die and dissipate into the same kind of orbs that everyone else had. The shock was too great for him as he stood there for a few moments trying to comprehend what was happening. No, he had to run, now was not the time to think, he had to save himself and his little sisters, and so Ichigo grabbed one of their hands each and pulled them to their feet as they cried nonstop, Ichigo finally managed to get them to run, while still sobbing and wiping away the tears that accumulated in their eyes from seeing their parents die.

_Stomp, stomp_. Ichigo looked behind him to see that thing had devoured his parents and was now chasing after them. Was there no end to this madness? "_There could be"_ a voice resonated at the back of Ichigo's mind, "_just let me at 'im, I'll tear it to shreds"_ the voice threatened. Ichigo couldn't tell whether or not this voice was friendly so he opted for running from the beast for a bit longer.

Yuzu ended up tripping on the curb as they rounded yet another corner and lost her grip in Ichigo's hand as she fell behind. Ichigo was about to stop and go back to quickly pick her up and put her back onto her feet when he found Karin had beaten him to it and was about to run up to Ichigo and join back with him again if not for the claws that ripped through the building they were standing beside and pierced their flesh making both of the girls cry out in pain as they were both cut from shoulder to waist blood splattering onto the ground around them before they to both broke down into the small blue orbs. Ichigo then lost it.

_"Let me at it Ichigo, let me at it, I swear I'll kill it!"_ the voice roared in anger at not only having to see Ichigo's parents die but his own sisters as well. Ichigo gave in his mind a tumbling mess that was beginning to shut down, but not before his eyes glowed a eerie yellow anger swelling up inside him his eyes changed yet again into a even deadlier looking crimson as Ichigo's mind was lost in a blind rage as the voice that was in the back of his mind burst forth like it was it's own separate entity and resumed control of Ichigo's body. Ichigo blanked out and fell unconscious as he saw himself leap at the beast and rear his fist back for the strike and punch it in the face earning a deafening crack as in no doubt the beast had just had it's head smashed in by the lone eight year old child.

As Ichigo regained consciousness he found himself surrounded by forest as he lay in a shallow fast moving river, a small knife present by his side coated in dry blood, presumably from the beast that had killed his parents and sisters. _"You did well letting me take control, that thing deserved to die after what it did, and rather painfully might I add"_ the strange voice present at the back of Ichigo's mind. Now that he had time to think about it the voice sounded very similar to his own, but that didn't matter at the moment, who or what was it. _"I am you, and you are me, we are two but we are one, two sides of the same coin"_ the voice said cryptically. _"I am all your negative emotions built up over your life, they greatly increased once your parents died in front of you and even more so when your sisters died, releasing me to roam your mind,"_ the voice said _"do not fear, I am not here to bring you or those you hold dear to harm, rather to help you protect them than anything else as the place inside your mind is quite wet at the moment and I do not like the rain, so I am here to assist you in whatever you need, I may even bring you in here to visit one time, but that can wait, right now you need to learn how to survive and survive you will"_ the voice said leaving Ichigo to ponder what it had said.

Survive? What did it mean? Did it mean that he would have to learn how to live in the forest he was currently in? But what about his parents and sisters, he had to make sure that he at least said his goodbyes. There were so many questions, but the one that stood out above all the others is, why wasn't he crying anymore? Was it because he had run out of tears to cry? Yes that was it, he had run out of tears to cry and he still felt very sad.

_"Oi, Ichigo, buck up a little, your parents and sisters are resting in peace now, I saved them by killing the monster, they are now with us, forever watching over you"_ the voice said coming back once again.

"Really" Ichigo choked out lifting his arm out of the water and dragging his arm along his sore eyes trying to rub away the soreness that came with crying too much.

_"Yes, now get up, you have to look around for a food source or else you'll begin to starve pretty soon"_ the voice said to Ichigo managing to encourage Ichigo to get to his feet and pick up the knife that was by his side and bury it in a pocket with the handle sticking out as he began his slow search still extremely upset at the events that had taken place not long ago.

"Why do I feel so sore?" Ichigo asked the voice at the back of his mind as he drowsily tried to stretch and massage his muscles at the same time as walking.

_"I made you use up all of your strength very suddenly, normally a person wouldn't be able to do that, but I'm different, I can push your body beyond it's limits, at a cost though of course, however very minor as you can see your muscles and bones will be in pain, it shouldn't be used again until you're much stronger unless you want to be on the brink of death once again, now I suggest you hurry up with finding your food before the real pain settles in because you'll want to be asleep when that hits"_

"Ok" Ichigo said in a childish way acknowledging the voice in the back of his head as a new teacher of sorts as it sounded like a smart person, but it said that person was him, so there was no reason not to trust himself. And so Ichigo began his life learning to survive and become stronger.

FLAH BACK END

* * *

(Three years later, Ichigo's age: eleven, present)

There was the city that Ichigo overlooked now and he couldn't help but wonder why people looked so drawn to it, was it because of the people there? Or perhaps the weird-ass skull like shaped building that was in the centre of the city? Probably the latter. Ichigo thought he'd find out what the building was, and so he went down to the city dressed in stolen clothing and asked around what the building was with some of the inhabitants of the city, most of which were more then happy to answer his questions as they could clearly tell he was a new person to the city and was simply exploring.

Later on and full of answers Ichigo had come to the conclusion that the building was called Death Weapon Meister Academy or DWMA for short. They specialised in training people how to wield people that could turn into weapons of any kind and eliminate monsters that he seemed all to familiar with that left behind red orbs that were called Kishin eggs or souls that had gone bad.

_"I think you should join Ichigo,"_ the voice spoke up "_it will give you a chance to protect people, that is what you want isn't it? Joining up is for free as all bills are funded through taxes that are supplied by the government plus from what we've heard so far it's the time of year when they begin taking on new students, it's already been going on for about a week already and you've got two more days to sign up before the offer closes and we have to wait for another year to join"_

"Yes I'll join" Ichigo said smiling to himself slightly. Suddenly something appeared in Ichigo's vision, a cat wearing…a hat? That's weird, it looked like a witches hat to, oh well he could always come back later to find out what was so strange about that cat, he doubted that it would leave the city and if it did it wouldn't go far.

* * *

(Academy front steps)

That damn sun was mocking him, just look at it! That great big smile on it's face as it appeared to be laughing at anyone that looked at it. Ichigo just continued to curse the sun in his mind as he took the final steps up to the academy.

"Excuse me" a feminine voice sounded from behind Ichigo. Ichigo turned to face a girl that looked to be about his age come up to him from the bottom of the steps. "You wouldn't happen to know where the registration room is would you?"

"Ah, so you're applying to are you?" Ichigo asked the girl before him whom just nodded in response "just come with me then, I'm headed in the same direction"

"Oh, good, at least I won't get lost in the halls by myself then" she said nervously making Ichigo raise an eyebrow in question. "I heard that it's really big on the inside and you can easily get lost" the girl shyly answered his unspoken question.

"Oh, alright then, let's not get lost…by the way names Ichigo, Ichigo Kurosaki" Ichigo said to the girl holding out his hand.

"Hello Ichigo, my names Izumi, just Izumi" Izumi said holding out her hand to shake Ichigo's. "I hope we can become friends hey Ichigo" Izumi smiled a small smile at Ichigo.

"Yeah, me too Izumi" Ichigo replied as they both then entered the academy.


	2. Chapter 2

I think someone made the accidental assumption that there would be a zangetsu in this fic. No…there won't. (Smile) Dun du duhhhh… On with the story

* * *

As Ichigo and Izumi walked through the halls of the academy they just became extremely confused and frustratingly so. The corridors seemed endless which was impossible, and yet they looked that way, maybe it was because that all of the halls looked almost exactly identical to each other, the only difference being the signs printed on each of the separate doors. However there was a loud noise coming from somewhere in the academy and it was assumed that that was where the registration room was, the paper signs that were pinned on the walls didn't help at all, because someone had plastered 'black star is the greatest' on all of them leaving nary but a small patch of white where the person had missed a spot.

Eventually Ichigo and Izumi reached the door from where the loud noises had been resonating from and echoing down the concrete halls. As Ichigo opened the door he was welcomed with a loud burst of noise from everyone shouting 'shut up' at a certain individual standing up on a stage at the back of the classroom. All Ichigo could do was assume that that was the person that had written on all the signs about being 'the great black star'. He had light blue spiky hair and black eyes, he wore combat boots of some sort, short pants and a sleeveless vest, on his right shoulder he had a star shaped scar, probably why he called himself black star.

"Hey kid," a man said to Ichigo's right, "are you here to join the academy?"

Ichigo looked the man over and it appeared that he was fairly tall in height, had olive skin and dark brown dread locks that went just down past his shoulders, he also looked fairly young to be a teacher at the academy, that's at least what Ichigo thought anyway. "I thought we had to register first and wait until we got into the academy" Ichigo said referring to both himself and Izumi.

"Normally yes, but this academy's a bit different to all the regular ones because there is always a chance that those that get low results in the first test phase will sky rocket and step over the top of everyone else reaching heights that no one else can, that includes yourselves, if you were to get low marks now and not later it would have been a waste not to bring you in. Besides it's government funded, it's not like we're going to have to wait for you to pay your fees. From now on you can call me Sid-Sensei" Sid said in a calm fashion. "So what are you? Weapon or meister?" Sid asked the two "Take note that you will be staying in this room until registration time is up, there will be food and beds provided as well as a bathroom"

"Oh, ok then, I'm a weapon Sid-Sensei" Izumi said speaking up first receiving a badge with 'WEAPON' imprinted in black ink on it with a little hesitation as she was visibly nervous about joining the academy.

"Meister" Ichigo said tonelessly surprising Sid a little as Ichigo had just a moment ago been talking as though a normal child should, he could swear he saw the kids eyes flash gold for a moment.

"Hey Sid-sensei" Ichigo said causing the man to turn back to him "if this is all government funded and is essentially free to everyone why so little numbers in the crowd?"

"Air fares a lot of the time, it costs a lot of money to travel over seas, however it's normally just the fact that either not many people can be bothered or have the capabilities to come here so they simply…well they just don't, although…there are other places around the world where people can go" Sid answered Ichigo who just nodded in thanks.

Ichigo just sighed to himself as he took the badge from the proclaimed Sid-Sensei and walked up to Izumi who appeared to be waiting for him at the edge of the crowd of bustling people. There were only about fifty people as far as Ichigo could see and yet they were all making this kind of noise, a loud and uncontrolled ramble that seemed to continue on no matter what between all of the new students as they conversed about many things ranging from what weapon they were to why they joined the academy. Some just talked about their life outside the academy to others. It seemed that the new students were acting as regular people between each other strangely enough considering all the shouts of 'Black Star' were tossed around here and there pathetically trying to be disguised as a separate tone each time.

"Hi Ichigo, hmm" Izumi said looking at the badge still in Ichigo's hand "what are you Ichigo? I can't tell because the badge is still in your hand" Izumi said pointing at Ichigo's hand causing him to look at his hand before pinning the badge to the front of his shirt allowing Izumi to see the badge clearly saying 'MEISTER'. "So you're a meister Ichigo" Izumi said mostly talking to herself more than Ichigo but still looked as though she was expecting a response from him.

"Uh yeah I guess" Ichigo said dragging a hand through a hand through his hair ruffling the spikes more than they already were causing a few more spikes to pop up on his head. "So what kind of weapon are you" Ichigo asked causing her to get really embarrassed and her face to flush for a reason that wasn't quite obvious to Ichigo.

"Ah I'd rather not say, my weapon form isn't all that good to look at and people might find me a bit unwieldy" Izumi said tapping her fingers together looking down at her feet.

"Then if you won't tell show" Ichigo said not caring for what she said crossing his arms in front of him. Realising that that wasn't going to work as Izumi shook her head Ichigo grabbed her arm and led her around a corner in the room that seemed to lead to the storeroom. "Look no one can see you here" Ichigo said gesturing to the space around them "now come on please" Ichigo said in a voice that made it sound like he was begging, but Izumi knew better.

"Ok I will, but like I told you before it isn't necessarily the easiest of weapons a person can wield and I don't think many people would agree to be my meister because of it" Izumi said before a glow enveloped her body and a second later there was a giant sword sticking out of the ground. It had a large curve blade and a red guard-less hilt that was on top of the blade with a chain coming out of the top. (Ichigo's second shikai version, after fullbring)

Ichigo took a step towards the blade before picking it out of the ground and gave it a few test swings.

"Hey what are you doing?" Izumi cried out at being swung around as though she weighed no more than a simple feather.

"Having a test swing, what else am I supposed to do other than just admire the blade you can turn into" Ichigo said not realizing the kind of reaction that Izumi would make at that statement as the sword turned red Ichigo could only guess as to why the blade turned red as he too broke out into a blush and placed the sword back down allowing Izumi to return to her human form.

"U…uh…thank you…Ichigo" Izumi said beet red stuttering "w…would…would you be my meister then?" Izumi said closing her eyes from all the embarrassment she felt at Ichigo complimenting her.

"Uh yeah ok, well I guess that saves a bit of time finding a partner then" Ichigo whispered the last part to himself while scratching the back of his head awkwardly.

"Oh thank you, you have no idea how much that means to me" Izumi said with somewhat relief.

"Why does it mean so much" Ichigo asked confused.

"It's hard to talk to new people" Izumi said as though it were obvious.

"I'm new" Ichigo replied remembering how she had simply come up to him outside although in a stuttering mess mind you and began asking for directions right away.

Those words seemed to stop Izumi for a moment causing her to blink a few times in thought before she went to open her mouth only to close it again thinking what she was about to say made no sense what so ever. What Ichigo had said was true, they had only known each other for a hour or two and she was already talking to him far more than she had to anyone else she had met within the same amount of time. Odd.

"Hey, what are you two doing here" a loud voice came from the blue haired boy that everyone could only assume was 'the Black Star'. "Come and bask in my glory as I Black Star surpass god himself" Black Star said as he shouted at the top of his voice head held high and arms out wide. The only response he came to receive was a none too gentle kick from Ichigo causing him to tumble back into the amassed crowd of meisters and weapons, most of which somehow noticed Black Star tumbling towards them and moved out of the way before they could get hit, the unlucky ones just yelped before they were bowled over.

"Ichigo, I don't think that was very nice" Izumi stated as she looked at the direction in which Black star went not noticing the blank stare that Ichigo was giving her.

"Bahh, he'll be fine" Ichigo said as he looked at the crowd and began to walk towards it motioning for Izumi to follow who did so hesitantly. "Come on, let's go talk to some people and find out who they are"

"Ok" Izumi replied as she joined Ichigo's side.

The rest of the time Ichigo and Izumi were in the room they talked to a few interesting people like Maka and Ox who seemed to have it out for each other over who had the greater intellect, it got boring after watching them fight for a while so Ichigo moved on, Izumi trailing right behind him. When ideas of who they could talk to ran out they met Black Star again who didn't seem to have a single scratch on him from when Ichigo had kicked him earlier, rather he challenged Ichigo to a fight, but Ichigo pointed out that he didn't have a weapon partner to fight with hoping to avoid the confrontation with Black Star. Thankfully he gave way and allowed them to continue on for the rest of the next two days as Ichigo and Izumi conversed between themselves not sure of what to do as the time passed by.

* * *

(End of waiting time)

"Alright, thank you for waiting now over these past few days…a week for some of you" Sid said as he stepped up to the front of the room. "As you are all now here in DWMA you are to follow the rules as stated in the notice boards and what not, please go to your dorms when directed, if you have decided on a weapon partner already please come to me and we can sort out the details." With that said everyone but Ichigo and Izumi left the room to be directed to their dorms. "And I take it that you two are already paired up" Sid said earning a nod from both. "Very well, now since you are of opposite genders to each other neither of you will be staying in the girls or boys dorm, rather you'll be living together in an apartment that you will rent out with the extra money that you will be funded for your weekly allowance" Sid said putting his hands together in front of him. "After all, both the weapon and meister must have a healthy relationship to cooperate well and work as a team, the same will happen when the others find a partner if they are not in the same dorm as each other. Supervision will not be provided as there are simply not enough teachers here at the academy to do so and the dorm manager usually handles it. I didn't tell the others this yet because the guys might try to go with a female partner for more…intimate reasons. Take this note with you" Sid said handing them a note "it's just so the people out the door who are giving you your allowance give you the extra needed to rent an apartment, have a nice day" Sid finished waving to them as he ushered them out the door.

"Weeelll, let's go find some place to stay then" Ichigo said as he began walking through the corridors of the school Izumi following close behind.

* * *

NOTES: So Izumi's weapon form is just the second form of Zangetsu just because I couldn't come up with something a little more interesting. For those of you who read the previous chapter two I put up, I changed it because I thought that it was just making things complicated for absolutely no reason at all, instead I decided to change something else.


	3. Chapter 3

Ichigo was sitting in the new classroom and the only real entertaining thing at the moment was watching Black star make a fool of himself as he stood on the teachers desk announcing his supremacy to the world. Oh Black Star was a pain, but it didn't seem that he cared, as it seemed he had already gained a partner surprisingly enough. Her name was Tsubaki and she was a very shy and timid girl at first glance but it turned out that she was actually talkative with other people however she seemed to give up when talking to other people became argumentative and shy away. The two seemed to fit together well enough as Tsubaki was very accepting of Black Star's attitude.

Everyone but Black Star went quiet as the door at the front of the classroom and in stepped Sid. Taking immediate notice of Black Star on his desk he walked over calmly before lifting a thick book and sticking it in front of Black Star who took no notice of it probably thinking there was no problem with the 'ultimate meister' standing where he was. Well he was wrong as he came to meet something called a book, something he probably had never even picked up before in Ichigo's opinion, although it's not like he could talk much, he'd been living the past three years in a mountain. Anyway we can safely say that Black star also met the black board spider web like cracks now spreading out from wher he impacted with it.

"Go sit" Sid ordered Black Star. The only sign of Black Star hearing Sid was the slight groan before he dragged himself to his feet rubbing his back in pain before walking over to his seat next to Tsubaki. "Alright now on with the class" Sid said and the day dragged on.

It wasn't long before Ichigo just felt bored with what he was learning, everything basically just related back to one phrase that Sid all told them about not long after class began 'a healthy soul dwells within a healthy mind and body'. Izumi who sat next to Ichigo in class was trying herself not o fall into the bad state that her meister was in and kept listening in class the whole way through, just like two other certain people, Maka and Ox. They were a weird sort of people, but then again if there weren't people like them in the world life would be very boring.

* * *

(End of class)

"Now as one star meisters you may select certain missions from the request board in the cafeteria and certain hallways" Sid said as the class rushed out of the room. "However do not forget that you need to first be paired up before you can go on any missions." What everyone missed was the part that came after that. "Crap, don't listen to what I just said, I meant to say that until approved that you are in fact capable and you have partnered up you can't go on any missions…I hope they heard me"

Ichigo and Izumi listened in on this as they walked out the door hearing the many pained groans that came from the other students at hearing this. Ichigo just smiled evilly creeping Izumi out a bit as they both went over to the mission board.

"Ichigo, shouldn't we get a bit of practice first before we go out to retrieve Kishin eggs" Izumi said to Ichigo as he held one arm across his chest while the other rested on top holding his chin assuming a thinking pose while scanning the many requests on the board.

"We'll be fine, I've killed these things many times before" Ichigo said reaching out to grab a mission he thought was interesting enough even though it was still a one star rating. It saddened Ichigo a bit that he wouldn't be able to select the harder ones until much later. "Let's see…what?!" Ichigo shouted not in the least stirring the crowd around him as they to were eyeing the missions on the board wondering how on earth a one star meister was able to accomplish a mission like these. It was probably the reason why Sid had said to pair up before going. "Kill a giant man eating worm" Ichigo read out to himself while eyeing the image that was captured of the beast. "Must watch out for poisoned spikes, must watch out for burrowed tunnels, etc" Ichigo said scanning the list of all the information the sheet provided.

"Ahh, Ichigo" Izumi said speaking up, "I don't think I'm quite ready for a mission like that yet" Izumi said nervously pointing at the sheet in Ichigo's hands. "Maybe this one then?" Izumi said holding another sheet out to Ichigo who took it and immediately began reading.

"Let's see…kill a small gang, collect the Kishin eggs" Ichigo read to himself. "Alright then, lets go" Ichigo said handing the mission in to the office notifying the school of Izumi and himself going out for their first mission.

* * *

(Gang hideout)

"Well, here we are" Ichigo said scratching the back of his head "but I don't see any of them, although I think they were here not too long ago"

To Ichigo it looked abandoned, it was anything but, and Ichigo knew this from his time in the mountains, as predatory animals would often return to their homes months after leaving them. It was probably left this way to make people assume that no one was living there. In front of Ichigo stood a run down building that still had lights flickering on the inside, they could barely be seen. Paint was cracked and land was upturned, all of these signs as to why people probably often avoided the place.

"Izumi, turn into your weapon form, I don't think we're alone any more" Ichigo said, and just in time to because as soon as he said it someone sprang out of the earth behind Ichigo greatly surprising him enough to cause him to hesitate for a moment. However he managed to raise Izumi in front of him to block a downward slash from a small machete blade that the enemy brought down from behind his head saving Ichigo from loosing an arm.

"Suuuurpriiise" person said as soon as their blades collided. The force of the enemy's blow was enough to make Ichigo slide back a few feet before he steadied himself and looked back up at the madly grinning man. "Ohh, are you from that academy I've been hearing oh so much about, that one called…" the man said raising a hand to his chin in thought before dropping his arm back down and resuming his murderous gaze "oh forget about it, I don't care, as long as I get to eat those tasty souls of yours"

The man charged, although this time he didn't have the element of surprise as Ichigo kept up with him and ran forwards as well readying the large blade he held behind him and unconsciously coated the blade in some of his soul energy as it began to leak from his body uncontrollably. As the two once again approached each other Ichigo swung the blade forwards expecting it to meet with a clang with the other blade but rather instead sliced right through it causing the criminals eyes to widen as the large blade then skimmed across his forehead as he just shifted to the side in time to avoid a fatal blow.

"How'd you do that?" the man screamed looking at the machete in his hand, it was missing roughly two thirds of the blade as he dropped it to the ground. The man then let out a growl showing his sharp teeth angered that his only weapon was destroyed by a single swing from the boy in front of him.

"That academy you were talking about us going to is called Shibusen for short" Ichigo said looking at the angered man in front of him who gained a questioning look when Ichigo said 'we'. Ichigo noticed this and said, "the blade I'm holding right now is actually alive, have you never heard about people who can turn into weapons before? Oh well it doesn't matter" Ichigo said saying the same thing the man before him said only moments ago while approaching the man while the large blade casually rested on his shoulder. "Now where are the rest of your guys?"

"I thought you would know," the man said "their souls are inside the house and have been so for several days by the looks of things, I was going to get you back for killing them" the man finished, a murderous look in his eyes once again.

The conversation wasn't going to go any further than that as the man once again launched himself at Ichigo realising that he wouldn't be going anywhere and that he was going to die fighting. As he approached Ichigo readied his sword and swung downwards cutting through the man and killing him. The man then broke apart to reveal a red orb floating in mid air.

"Hm…that was actually easier than it sounded on the mission paper, eh Izumi" Ichigo said as Izumi transformed back into her human form to stand beside him. "Well one of the things that I actually do remember from class is that you have to eat these thingies to turn into a death weapon" Ichigo said walking over to the orb grabbing it in his right hand to look at it for a moment before he tossed it to Izumi.

Izumi fumbled the Kishin egg for a moment after Ichigo tossed it to her before getting a tight grip on it and held it in front of her looking at it carefully before she raised it to her mouth and swallowed it. Izumi made a slight gagging noise once she swallowed it but was obviously unhappy with the taste it left in her mouth. "Do I really have to eat ninety-nine of those things," Izumi whined looking at Ichigo in the eyes with a pleading look, "they taste horrible!"

Ichigo just chuckled a bit before nodding making her pout a little. After watching that Ichigo made his way over to the run down building and kicked the door open. Ichigo stepped inside and said that Izumi could wait outside if she wanted to, to which she nodded eagerly, probably trying not to walk into the creepy house. Ichigo emerged a few minutes later after searching the house and brought out two other Kishin eggs and handed them both to Izumi. "Eat up" Ichigo said in a teasing manner.

* * *

"They're back" someone shouted and instantly people went silent after hearing that wanting to see the first people of their year to actually successfully complete a mission. Black Star had gone out as well, but had come back empty handed as he had burst out and somehow managed to give everyone enough time to escape, so no Kishin eggs were retrieved.

There was an awkward silence as Ichigo and Izumi stepped into the room which Ichigo couldn't quite place, were they waiting for something or someone? Had something happened? Ichigo would never know as the bell for school to end rang and he left the room making everyone sag their shoulders at not being able to hear how it went.

"Where are they?" Sid shouted out at the students having heard someone shout that they were back. He'd already reprimanded Black Star and his partner for going out on a mission as well since they returned quite some time ago.

"They already left, we didn't get to hear how it went" another person said looking at the ground, tears in their eyes.

"Dammit" Sid said and he left the room "I'll deal with them tomorrow"

* * *

Ichigo was walking home, arms behind his head all while tuning out from the world around him having already decided the route he was going on to get back to the apartment he and Izumi now shared. It was quite a comfortable living space at a rather cheap price.

Something suddenly caught Ichigo's eye and he looked to the left to see the same cat from a couple of days ago looking right at him. Ichigo stopped walking and looked right back at the cat much to the confusion of Izumi. "Izumi go back to the apartment, I'll be there soon, I just have to check something" Ichigo said, Izumi just nodded and left Ichigo to himself as she continued on to the apartment.

"Now who are you kitty cat?" Ichigo questioned the cat causing it's eyes to widen slightly. Ichigo walked up to it as it continued to sit there and Ichigo saw a collar on the witch-hat-wearing-cat. Ichigo just crouched down and looked at the tag on the cat. "So your names Blair" Ichigo said to the cat pausing for a moment before he spoke again "witch" Ichigo declared looking at the cat in the eyes.

Blair seemed to suddenly panic and try to run away but Ichigo had already grabbed Blair and picked her up holding her in front of his face, yet at a suitable distance so she couldn't scratch him across the face as she continued to wiggle and squirm in his grip.

"Hold still would you, I'm not going to hurt you, just as long as you don't kill or hurt anyone" Ichigo paused for a moment before looking deadly serious into the cats eyes as it's squirming lessened "you haven't hurt any one have you?" Ichigo asked Blair in his hands to which the cat vigorously shook it's head in saying that it hadn't. "Ok then," Ichigo said dropping his stare and placing Blair back on the ground "stay safe now Blair" Ichigo said turning away from Blair and continued on walking to his apartment not noticing that Blair had begun to follow him along the rooftops.

* * *

"Lord death we have a problem" Sid said as he entered the office of the man who was in charge of DWMA.

A chair in the middle of the room turned around to reveal a ridiculous cartoon looking man entirely clad in black except for his hands, which had enormous white gloves on them and his face, which had a white mask on it. "And what would that be Sid-kuuun" the man said causing Sid to sigh at his boss's speech patterns that he regularly used and could be really annoying.

The room seemed to have no walls as it stretched out into a seemingly endless desert with branch like sticks that poked out of the ground, and a sky painted on the ceiling with windows on it that just seemed to sprout out of nowhere with the only obvious purpose of providing more sunlight on top of the artificial sun like light or a view for the outside sky.

"One of the students, there's sort of a dark presence around him and I was coming to you to ask what to do, I'm afraid that the kid may have already stared progressing into the early stages of becoming a Kishin" Sid said causing Death's non-existent eyebrows to furrow as he began to think about it.

"Keep an eye on him for now, if nothing happens within the next month we'll just assume that it's natural that he has a dark presence about him and leave it at that unless something else comes up" Death said to Sid.

"There's also the problem that he seems to be able to shade it's presence like a witch is able to hide theirs when using soul protection, he seemed to lose control over it for a moment when I was giving his badge to him in the registration room" Sid said.

"Is that all?" Death said putting his hands together in front of him. _"Comparing the student to a witch…I wonder…"_

"Yes" Sid said that and turned around to leave through the door but was stopped as the giant white hand of his boss landed on his shoulder.

"How about a game of chess since you're in here now?" Death said with a tone that made Sid regret ever coming in person in the first place, he should've just made a damn phone call.

"Sure" Sid said a small fake smile twitching on his face "I'd love to." Great now he'd have to sit here for the next hour as his boss rambled on in the most annoying tone he could while playing chess. Life was cruel.


End file.
